A 2-year, $8.1 million project will replace the aging Davitt Bridge.
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People can easily enter Chicopee Center from Front Street, Exit 2 off Interstate 391 and several other ways.CHICOPEE — The bridge that leads to the city’s downtown will be closed for more than two years starting on Monday.
The Davitt Bridge, which connects Front Street to Granby Road, is to be closed through August 2014 for the $8.1 million state rebuilding project, said Michael Verseckes, Department of Transportation spokesman.
Preliminary work on the bridge, which spans the Chicopee River, began in September. Northern Construction Service, LLC., which has been hired to do the work, first planned to close the bridge in December, but there were delays in preparations, Verseckes said.
The city and local legislators have worked with the Department of Transportation to contract with the company to work 60 hours a week instead of 40 so the bridge can be completed quicker and the inconvenience to downtown merchants and their customers will be minimized, Mayor Michael D. Bissonnette said.
At least 30 of the business owners started mobilizing in the fall to create a campaign to make people aware of the many ways to reach Chicopee Center so they do not take their business elsewhere, especially in the struggling economy.
William J. Wagner, president and chief executive officer of Chicopee Savings Bank, said he has not used the Davitt Bridge in at least five weeks to prepare for the closing.
“I have used all the alternatives. It hasn’t added one iota of misery to my life,” he said.
The merchants have come up with six alternative routes to reach downtown Chicopee without crossing the Davitt Bridge and set up a website — http://www.easytoenterchicopeecenter.com/ — which lists them all.
One the advantages is Chicopee Center is easily accessed from Exit 2 off Interstate-391. Nearly everyone from surrounding communities already uses the route and will barely notice the bridge is closed, Wagner said.
While he does not know about other businesses, Wagner said a significant amount of deposits and loans at Chicopee Savings Bank comes from people who do not live in the city and more than half of the loans are made to residents of other communities.
He said he also found that it was easy to reach downtown from Memorial Drive by driving to the end of the road, crossing the Deady Bridge and reaching downtown by Front Street.
Wagner predicted Front Street might have a little extra traffic during the bridge closing and said Exit 2 gets a little backed up during key commuter times, but neither route had much of a problem.
Downtown merchants together raised about $20,000 to spend on advertising to tell people it is still easy to reach their businesses. An added benefit is the campaign is also reminding people about the different businesses located downtown, he said.
Wagner said some believe it is going to destroy businesses, but most agree with him that it may be inconvenient but not devastating.
